“I bought your story.” Whitney went on to explain how Ryan’s sudden reappearance in her life with the property agreement led to her visiting the attorney.

“That’s how I discovered you’d vanished.”

“I’m sorry. I would have trusted you with my secret, but we hadn’t been close. I thought-”

“Were you ever going to come back?” Whitney asked, raw emotion underscoring every word. “Were you going to tell me?”

Miranda stopped and slid one arm around Whitney’s shoulders. “Of course. I was going to return and tell you everything.”

“When?”

“I was going to call you-and not tell you where I was-next week. I thought the men might show up around that time. I was going to warn you, but I wasn’t going to tell you enough to get you hurt.” Miranda dropped her arm and gazed off across the wine-dark sea into the night. “I’m not sure when I was going to come home. Not for a year or more.” She put her hand on her tummy. “I have to protect my-our-baby.”

Whitney tried to see life through her cousin’s eyes. The man she loved had died, ruthless killers were after her and she was pregnant. “Look, I can’t change the past. But I can promise to be a better cousin.”

“We should be like sisters,” Miranda said, the threat of tears unexpectedly surfacing in her voice.

Whitney hugged Miranda. “You’re right, we should be as close as sisters. I tried when you came to live with-”

“I know. You were so sweet. All I did was push you away. I didn’t realize it at the time.” She dug a bare toe into the wet sand. “I’ve been alone so much recently that I’ve had plenty of time to think. I’m sure I pulled into a shell of sorts after my parents were killed. I didn’t want to risk getting close, then losing someone else. Still, I did feel close to you. Then you went off to college.”

“And disappeared from your life.”

“You visited when your mother was alive.”

“I’m sorry,” Whitney said. She meant it, but “sorry,” like “love,” was an overused word. But right now she couldn’t think of any better way to express herself. “I’ll do better. I want to be with you when the baby is born.”

“No. If they haven’t followed you down here already, those men are sure to find me if you keep visiting. The only way I’ll be safe is if you leave me alone.”

“But I don’t want you to go through labor all by yourself in a strange country.”

“There’s an American hospital in Cancún. I’ll go there. Don’t worry.”

“I am worried,” Whitney protested. “I want to be with you. I-”

“They’ll kill me if they find me.” Miranda tried for a smile. “I’ll come back when it’s safe. Until then, the only way you can help is to leave. Don’t call. Don’t do anything that might lead them to me. I need you to promise me-for the baby.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

ADAM SAT IN THE crowded air terminal in Cancún. It was the off-season, but you wouldn’t know it by the gaggles of tourists sporting lobster-red burns and toting bags filled with Bye-Bye Cancún T-shirts and other souvenirs.

“Miranda will be fine,” he assured Whitney.

She was sitting beside him, her feet resting on the small overnight case he’d found in his uncle’s closet and had given her for the trip. She’d been quiet, preoccupied since they’d left Miranda’s villa. When he’d discovered nothing on his uncle’s computer by morning, he insisted on taking the next flight home.

“I’m coming to stay with Miranda just as soon as those men are found. I don’t want to put her in danger, but I don’t want her to be alone when she delivers.”

Adam patted the leather case that held his uncle’s laptop and computer software. “The answer’s here. None of us knows how to find it but Quinten Foley will have computer experts. Foley will bag those terrorists. Then Miranda can return home.”

“Let’s hope so.”

Adam silently reminded himself to contact Samantha Waterson tomorrow and have her stop the special toxicology test on his uncle’s liver tissues. At least now he had peace of mind. Calvin Hunter had not been murdered.

“I’m surprised that those men want to kill Miranda just because she can identify them. Most terrorists seem thrilled to get their pictures on the evening news. So what if she ID’d them?”

Adam glanced around quickly. No one seemed to be paying attention to them, but he kept his voice low. “These guys obviously plan to use my uncle’s contacts and shipping routes. This is a no-brainer for them-if they keep quiet and don’t call attention to themselves. Miranda’s a weak link.”

“That makes sense. But why kill her before they get the disc with the info?”

“Good question. I assumed they had gotten it when this baby-” he patted the laptop “-disappeared. But as I was searching through the files on my uncle’s computer last night, I decided he may have given them a phony disc. He just didn’t tell Miranda-or maybe he died before he had the chance to explain it to her.”

“Why would he do that?”

“To fool them into thinking they had the info they needed. He could have been buying additional time. When they discovered the disc was a fake, he would have disappeared.”

“Maybe,” Whitney replied, but she didn’t sound convinced.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Whitney seemed withdrawn to Adam. Evidently finding her cousin and learning Miranda was pregnant had a profound impact on Whitney.

“I’m going to see if I can buy a magazine.” He rose, hefted the laptop over his shoulder and headed toward the small gift shop.

A few minutes later, he stepped out of the shop with a Time magazine tucked into the side pocket of the laptop case. He scanned the room to see if anyone was following them, but he didn’t spot anybody. Whitney was talking on her cell phone when he returned and sat down beside her. Cell service down here was iffy at best. Whitney had tried to call the woman who’d taken over her dogs but hadn’t been able to get through.

“Anything happening?” he asked when she shut her cell phone and dropped it into her purse. “Are Jasper and Lexi okay?”

“They’re fine,” Whitney replied in a tight voice.

“What’s the matter?”

“Nothing. Lyleen Foster seems to be doing a great job with the dogs. I had a message from Trish. Remember the friend of hers who needed a house-sitter?”

Adam recalled Whitney mentioning it. The fine hairs on the back of his neck prickled. “What about him?”

“He’s left town. Trish told him I would house-sit.”

He didn’t like the thought of Whitney staying anywhere but with him. He could tell himself that he wanted her around until they settled this mess with her cousin and the disc-but that wasn’t the reason. He cared about her. He wanted Whitney to become part of his life.

“I’m supposed to move in as soon as I get back.”

A flare of anger hit him. “You decided all this without talking to me?”

She jerked sideways to face him squarely. “You haven’t bothered to consult with me.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked, although he had the sneaking suspicion he knew. He’d noticed the grim expression on her face at several points during the conversation with Miranda.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know! All that talk about Miranda and your uncle. Why didn’t you tell me?”

He put his finger to his lips to indicate they should keep their voices low. “It didn’t involve you, and I didn’t want to worry you.”

“I was already worried,” she hissed at him, but lowered her voice. “I had the right to know but you didn’t see fit to confide in me.”

He couldn’t deny it. There had been more going on than he’d permitted Whitney to learn. He hadn’t wanted to upset her any more or he would have told her that night.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I should have told you. It won’t happen again.”

“Is there anything else I should know about?”

Aw hell, he cursed silently. Why had he listened to that overbuffed jock? He should have told her that Ashley had been responsible for Lexi’s disappearance. “Lexi didn’t wander off.”